Pass it on.

Debt Clock

Thursday, May 9

A key Benghazi whistle-blower, responding to Democratic claims that the prolonged scrutiny over the administration's botched talking points is unwarranted, testified Wednesday that the early mischaracterization of the attack may have actually hurt the FBI's investigation. "I definitely believe that it negatively affected our ability to get the FBI team quickly to Benghazi," said Greg Hicks, the deputy chief of mission in Libya who became the top U.S. diplomat in the country after Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed. He claimed the Libyan president was angered by the mischaracterization, in turn slowing the U.S. probe. The claim was one of several new accounts given at Wednesday's high-profile hearing where three whistle-blowers testified. Democrats, while giving deference to the officials and their version of events, used the hearing to try and deflect criticism away from the administration. In particular, they rejected the notion that early talking points on the attack were deliberately changed, to downplay terrorism, for political reasons. "People who have actually seen the documents, who have actually conducted a real investigation completely reject the allegation that they were made for political purposes," Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., said. But the substance of the claims Wednesday could serve to re-open questions about that deadly night -- and specifically about the initial claim by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice that the attack was triggered by a protest over an anti-Islam film. "I think the American people learned today ... the facts as we were told before, during and after Benghazi simply aren't as they were," Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the oversight committee holding the hearing, said.'I definitely believe that it negatively affected our ability to get the FBI team quickly to Benghazi.'- Greg Hicks, former deputy chief of mission in LibyaHicks was asked to respond to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement at a prior hearing asking "what difference" do the questions over the talking points make. Hicks argued that Rice's comments so insulted the Libyan president -- since they contradicted his Sept. 16 claims that the attack was premeditated -- that it slowed the FBI's investigation. "President Magariaf was insulted in front of his own people, in front of the world. His credibility was reduced," Hicks said, adding that the president was apparently "still steamed" two weeks later. This bad blood, he claimed, contributed to the FBI team being stuck in Tripoli for about 17 days. He added that the U.S. could not even get the Libyans to secure the crime scene during that time. As for Rice's comments that Sunday, when she repeatedly cited the video as the trigger for the attack, Hicks said his "jaw dropped" when he heard that. "I was stunned," Hicks said. "My jaw dropped, and I was embarrassed." He said Rice never talked to him before those appearances. Hicks said the only information coming out of his team was that there was an "attack" on the consulate. "The YouTube video was a non-event in Libya," he said. He also claimed that, when he asked a superior about the interviews, he was told "he should not proceed" with his questions. He was later given a "blistering critique" of his management style and effectively demoted to "desk officer," he claimed. Hicks' testimony marked some of the most detailed of any delivered Wednesday. He and others also suggested the State Department's internal review into the attack was lacking. Hicks said when he was interviewed by the group, a stenographer was not present. In hours of testimony, the witnesses recounted in great detail what happened in eastern Libya on Sept. 11 and how U.S. personnel came under a series of attacks that left four Americans dead. Though Democratic officials have argued the attack has been thoroughly investigated and that the hearing Wednesday was political in nature, the claims challenged several long-standing assertions by the Obama administration. The witnesses criticized the lax security at the Benghazi site in the run-up to the attack, and suggested the military did not do all it good to respond to the scene that night despite claims to the contrary. Hicks also revealed that it appeared some were trying to lure even more U.S. personnel into a separate "ambush" while the attack was still being carried out. He described how, as diplomatic officials were trying to find out what happened to Stevens, they were receiving phone calls from supposed tipsters saying they knew where the ambassador was and urging Americans to come get him. "We suspected that we were being baited into a trap," Hicks said, adding that he did not want to send anybody into what he suspected was an "ambush." Getting choked up, Hicks described how the Libyan prime minister later called him to tell him Stevens was in fact dead. "I think it's the saddest phone call I've ever had in my life," he said. At the very beginning of the attack, before Stevens went missing and was later found dead, Hicks said his team believed it was terrorism. He said a regional security officer rushed into his villa yelling, "Greg, Greg, the consulate's under attack." He then spoke by phone with Stevens who told him the same: "Greg, we're under attack." After enduring a night of attacks on the U.S. consulate, Hicks said the team departed at dawn for the nearby annex -- shortly after they arrived, "the mortars came." Another whistle-blower questioned Wednesday why more military assets were not deployed sooner during the Benghazi terror attack. Mark Thompson, a former Marine and official with the State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau, said he was rebuffed by the White House when he asked for a specialized team -- known as a FEST team -- to be deployed. This is a unit made of special operations personnel, diplomatic security, intelligence and other officers. Suggesting that some were hesitant to deploy because they were unsure what was happening, "One definition of a crisis is you do not know what's going to happen in two hours," he said. Further, Hicks explained how a separate team of special forces personnel were not given the authorization to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi. "They were furious," he said. Issa defended the witnesses, calling them "actual experts on what really happened before, during and after the Benghazi attacks," who "deserve to be heard." The three witnesses were Hicks, Thompson and Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was formerly the regional security officer in Libya; and Thompson. "I am a career public servant," Hicks said. "Until the aftermath of Benghazi, I loved every day of my job." Nordstrom choked up as he began to testify Wednesday. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., top Democrat on the oversight committee, said Wednesday that Republicans are using the witnesses' statements for "political purposes." He said he's glad the whistle-blowers are testifying and would ensure they are protected, but pre-emptively challenged some of their claims -- including the claim that U.S. military could have responded sooner to the site of the attack. The Obama administration has adamantly denied several of the latest charges, including a claim that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key aide tried to cut the department's own counterterrorism bureau out of the chain of reporting and decision-making on Sept. 11. The administration also denied that the whistle-blowers in question were intimidated -- while behind the scenes questioning the credibility of the witnesses. A "fact sheet" released by the department ahead of the hearing reiterated its denials. The statement said the department has "demonstrated an unprecedented degree of cooperation with the Congress" on Libya, and rejected claims that the military was in a position to help that night but was told to stand down. Citing its internal review, the statement noted the review "found no evidence of any undue delays in decision making or denial of support from Washington or from the military combatant commanders."

Ronald Reagan

Are we Crazy? or Politically Correct? or both?

Congress is set to give legally protected status to 30 sexual orientations, including incest. Because of pressure from homosexual groups, Congress has refused to define what is meant by sexual orientation in H.R. 1913, the "Hate Crimes" bill. This means that the 30 different sexual orientations will be federally protected classes.

To see the orientations that will be protected by the Hate Crimes bill (H.R. 1913), click here.

You may be told this information is incorrect. If so, ask why then did the House Judiciary Committee refuse to define "sexual orientation?"

* VIDEO: Why is Govenor Spencer of Greensboro, NC walking around free today? Unable to control himself when he crashed a peaceful, Tea Party Protest, he pushes a woman and then punches her husband, Nathan Tabor, in the face – all caught on video

Why does your Government keep getting it wrong?

Don't Tax Me BRO!

In 2004 Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam

You must let the Government plunder your goods!

The silent majority

Our own freedom and the American dream.

http://www.american-quotes.com/---Our own freedom and growth have never been the final goalof the American dream. We were never meant to be an oasis ofliberty and abundance in a worldwide desert of disappointed dreams.Our Nation was created to help strike away the chains of ignorance andmisery and tyranny wherever they keep man less than God wants him to be.---Lyndon B. Johnson

Climategate - To be Gored...

A leading Israeli scientist has renounced the concept of man-made global warming at a lecture given to the British Technion Society, just days before world leaders meet to discuss ways to halt it.Professor Giora Shaviv, professor of physics at the Technion, claimed that the accepted level of carbon dioxide in the air is wildly exaggerated.Prof Shaviv said that though for years the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has claimed that an increase in carbon dioxide has led to an increase in temperature, in fact, the reverse is correct.He argued that the movement of the sun affects temperature, which influences the levels of carbon dioxide, and that these levels have risen and fallen for centuries, even before mankind.He said: “CO2 is not responsible for heating the earth, the cause is the activity of the sun which we cannot control.“However we are responsible for our environment on earth, for the future of our grandchildren, and therefore, we should all still act responsibly.”The lecture was attended by Benny Peiser, director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which was set up by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lawson to analyse global warming policies and its economic implications.Dr Peiser, who was born in Haifa, said that too much money was being ploughed into climate change research and that politicians were stifling contentious research that opposed the commonly accepted views.He said: “People talk about saving the world but no one crunches the figures. It has become an obsession and economic burden for many countries.“There is a hysteria and exaggeration of the issue with people worrying that the end is nigh. People need to calm down. The reality is we haven’t got a clear idea what the climate is doing.“Part of our agenda is that scientists like Professor Shaviv have to be allowed to research freely and without political pressure.”Sourcehttp://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/24568/israeli-scientist-denies-global-warming

Climategate: This time Al Gore lied - Think Mental Illness

Lier Lier, Pants on fire

Don't be dumb... All scientists know Climate change is caused by WATER VAPOR

Obama is the grand leader of the whole world

Record Lies in Record Time - 7 lies in under 2 minutes.

I think this is a new world's record for a dirty, lying politician. Wow. Not one element of truth in there. Not one. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Do any Americans even care?

Obama Obama

And He is now our President... Some facts are blury but acurate

I bet he will not eat them - green eggs and ham.

You know the President is telling a lie when he says something like this.
"I hope we can build on the progress we made at last year's G20 summits by coordinating our global financial reform efforts to make sure a crisis like the one
from which we are still recovering never happens again," he said on June 25th 2010.

O'Reilly Blasts Barney Frank On Fannie Mae Mess!... Dumb Ass

Barnie Barnie Barnie

Karl Rove - "Chris Dodd & Barney Frank Prevented Mortgage Reform"

The UN sucks your money up, up and away. $5,000,000,000 Yes That's "Billion" just last year.